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Jul.28,2010One of the things that greatly reduced my satisfaction in writing code for a living was the realization that I could not share it.
Coding is one of those things that can be terribly interesting to a very specific portion of the population, and to everyone else, it is arcane knowledge either from On High or from The Pits of Hell, depending on the listeners’ outlook1. Early in our marriage my wife learned the fine art of smiling and nodding encouragingly especially when she had no idea what I was talking about. It was impossible for me to really share what I was doing because the set of people who could appreciate it and the set of people I spend time with has little or no intersection.
I like to share my joys with people. Ask anyone who has had to suffer through my skimming thru an iPod while I play music for them2, or who has come by after a trip to the book- or game store. I like to to share the shiny stuff I find, and like a small child, I hope that they like it as much as I do.
This has been one of the reasons what I’ve pulled away from writing code during non-work hours: I want to focus on creating things which can be shared. It might be working up some ice cream with the new ice cream maker we received as a housewarming gift. It might be brewing beer or cooking a meal for my family. It might be gaming with friends…sharing time with likeminded folks can be the best sharing of all. Code does not do this for me. Even podcasting does not do this for me. Social networking is a pale substitute3…I prefer the physical world to the Internet any day of the week.
What is it in life that brings you the most satisfaction? Is it something you like to share, or do you keep it to your self?
